Weekly Chat - March 17 to 23 « Back to Group Discussions

[katalopolis]

How's your week shaping up so far?

I got a call yesterday from the first midwifery clinic that I was going to go with. They had to drop me way back even before my first appointment because they had a midwife unexpectedly leaving and that left them with too many September births for the number of midwives they had. The call yesterday was saying that they had a spot open up and if I wanted it, it was mine.

Even though they were my first choice originally and this would give me back my homebirth option I said no. We've already had our first appointment at the strange doctor/midwife practice we're going with, I really really like them and I actually really really like the hospital we're going to be giving birth in (BC Women's Hospital). Homebirth for me was 99% about "Yay! I don't have to go outside!" because I am SUCH a homebody but the one drawback was that I'd have to have a bunch of people in my space. This way I do have to leave my house but when I come back to it it will just be me and my fiance and our baby and NO ONE ELSE which is also kind of important to me.

Other than that my week is going to be pretty ordinary. I've got to get some bloodwork done on Wednesday but that's about it for pregnancy related activities.

[dakipode]

No pregnancy related activities for me this week. I'm going to Vegas!
The IHRSA tradeshow, where all the fitness equipment manufacturers show off their new stuff, is going on this week. I'm so excited because I've never been to a big industry show like that. It's just a couple of days but it'll be nice to get out of town for a bit. I also figured this might be the last year in a long time that I'll be able to go so I jumped on the opportunity. DH is a bit miffed about it, oh well.

katalopolis, sounds like you've found a nice birthing place and you're at peace with your decision.

[nettlesoup]

Katalopolis; you sound very organised, and it's good that you really like the hospital and everyone involved.

We've got a busy week this week. My fiance is down in England for three days; the longest he's been apart from our daughter so that will be weird. So I've made sure we have a busy week while he's gone. I've got my next midwife appointment on Tuesday, and other than that seeing lots of people which will be nice. But it's meant to snow again so I hope that doesn't affect any of our plans.

[mrsandmrs]

kat, that sounds like a good compromise. i felt the same way about a home birth, back when it was an option. i love being in my home more than anywhere else, but part of what i like is that we keep it so private. it sounds like you found a great solution. 

daki  - w00t vegas! have fun! 

afm - i have a really busy week planned at work and our second OB appointment is this week. we're meeting with another potential doula this week. we spent this weekend decluttering our garage with the help of a borrowed pick-up truck, e.g. taking the kitchen cabinets we took out during a remodel to the local habitat for humanity re-store, and so on. i think we're going to get a deep freezer for the garage for post-baby lasagnas and such. i feel like when we have newborn twins, no one is going to feel like cooking much... just a hunch. 

oh, and i need to plant peas today, no matter what. i'm already a week or two behind on that. whoops. 

[MamaMash]

I'm glad you are at peace with your decision kat. It sounds like the perfect compromise for you.

How weird Dakipode and Nettle, my dh is going out of town to Vegas this week. Crazy! It's definitely not the longest he has been away from dd or me (military) , just Monday-Thursday.

Should be a slow week for me. Not expecting any pregnancy related stuff this week. Just going to try to hang out with my sisters to get dd out of the house. Weather looks crappy and rainy this week. Yuck.

[vc2013]

only discovering this thread now. 

we're finishing up the first trimester this week! and as i'm finally feeling better thanks to nausea meds, and feeling slightly more energetic, i'm trying to get more work done now. just accepted a bigger gig aside from my day job and am planning to get back to other additional projects as soon as i have the energy. i'm also planning to start participating in housecleaning activities again now that i don't HAVE to be on the couch all the time anymore. 

we told couple friends of ours yesterday and our friend said she noticed i was stroking my belly the way only pregnant people do. that left me wondering whether my coworkers maybe already know. i dread telling my manager, but it has to happen soon, aka within the next two weeks, probably. have you all already been through that one? 

[letniaLynne]

Everyone sounds so positive! It must be closer to the end of MS for most of us lucky ones.

I just found out that my fiancé planned a surprise birthday party for me, it's just his mom and dad coming along with my and the kids which should be fun. But I need to pull the first floor of our house together tomorrow before they arrive at 2pm!!!

The last 24 hrs have been emotional, the stress of everything I need to get done before this little one hit hard this week. The house we are moving into is ripped down to the studs and needs to be completed by July at the latest so we can move in. But finding reliable contractors has be rough so we are meeting with a carpenter this Tuesday 2 hrs from our current home. I hope he can give me a name of a plumber since a reliable one of those seem to be impossible to find !!

I also need to get our current house on the market which is no small task! On top of the fact that the guy renting from me / living in our in law house on the property is 2 months behind on his rent and I really hate confrontation.

Also in the next week I need to drive my youngest to our new town so that she can go and visit her new preschool that after interviewing 4 schools I settled on this one. They want to have her in to watch her with the kids and let her get comfortable before she arrives next year.

On top of the fact that both kids are sick I think I am about to loose it!!!!! Tonight my fiancé and I are planning in sitting down and getting a schedule together for the next few months as well as making sure we have enough cash/credit/loans secured to finish the house in time.

I keep telling myself that we can do it!! But my gut is really worried

[haurelia]

kat, glad you found a birth place that you feel good about.  

dakipode, enjoy your travels to Vegas.  I don't think I'm a "Vegas person" but then again, there's probably something for everyone there. 

nettlesoup, I hope the weather doesn't mess up your plans this week, and the time apart from your fiancé flies by. 

mrsandmrs, nothing like a good purge to make your space feel sane and comfortable.  Did you get your peas planted?  ;)

mamamash, enjoy your mellow-sounding week and time with your sisters!

vc2013, I told my manager about my pregnancy about 10 days or so ago.  She was fine, and just wanted to talk about her own pregnancies (which was waaaay TMI, in my opinion).   I didn't address postpartum time with her, but did let her know my time frame for when I plan to stop working (I'm contingent, so am blessed with tons of flexibility). 

letniaLynne, that is a lot to contend with anytime, let alone during a pregnancy!  Sending good vibes that you get your budget/plans sorted out easily with your fiancé, and all goes well with contractors.  We have some minor house things I'd like DH to conquer before baby arrives, but nothing to the magnitude you're dealing with (which we experienced with our last house...shudder). 

For me, it's a pretty chill week.  Have some appointments tomorrow morning, and will spend the afternoon helping with a pack of kids with a friend (we have a 3 way kid-care ring going, but when we can, it's nicer for 2 mamas to wrangle the three 4 year olds, and two 1 year olds.  She's watching my son in the morning along with all the others, so I would like to repay her with some hands on deck for the afternoon.  I work a 12 hour daytime shift Tuesday...I work both day and night shift, but really prefer nights for the quiet.

I had hoped we'd be able to get our maple syruping started this week, as I have very little "official" stuff to do...but it doesn't look like the weather will cooperate.  It needs to be pretty warm during the day with freezing nights to get good runs of sap, and it's actually supposed to be quite cold this week with more. snow. coming.  I am SO ready for spring, I can't even describe it.  This winter has seemed endless.  

DS has a playdate Thursday morning, and we have a Musikgarten class on Friday mornings.  It's been nice having stuff to do in the mornings together, as it really helps make the day flow (activity, lunch, resting time, dinner prep, papa time, etc). I'm so thankful that the nausea and extreme fatigue have receded (fingers crossed); I'm feeling a better mood, better energy and HUNGRY.  Setting an intention to do some cardio 3-4 times this week and yoga at least 2-3 times. I took 2 weeks off between my sinus crap and DS's rotavirus, and now that I'm going to start eating more (I know I am!), I need to keep active.  

Hope everyone has a pleasant week! 

[dakipode]

Voila! My very first sewing project and my very first cloth diaper! I messed up a bit sewing in the soaker, forgot to put the presser foot down (and then you get those big loops!). All in all I'm happy with it, I found some great tutorials on YouTube on how to use your sewing machine and figured it out from there.

I plan on making more since we have a bunch of t-shirts and towels to recycle so the diapers are essentially free other than my time.

[nettlesoup]

LetniaLynne; you really do have a busy year! I hope it all goes smoothly for you and you get your house done in time.

Haurelia; I wish we could harvest maple syrup in this country, that would be amazing! It sounds like you're getting very similar weather to us. I can't wait for proper Spring weather, I'm so fed up of the cold and snow.

Dakipode; I'd love to be able to do that. I've been trying to teach myself to sew for ages, but whenever I get my sewing machine out, it just disagrees with me and causes problems. Everything I've done so far has had to be hand sewn because my sewing machine hates me.

[dakipode]

nettlesoup, I watched the videos titled "How to use your basic sewing machine" parts 1 through 5. They're posted by a guy named Rob Olmsted and the name of the lady in the video is Pam. She goes over and identifies all the parts of the machine so you know what she's talking about later. It's so easy and step by step. Between that and reading the little booklet that came with the machine I figured it out. Seriously, this is the first thing I've ever sewn!

[nettlesoup]

Thanks for that, Dakipode! I need to have someone to show me, so a video would be good.

[amanda bee]

i am so excited...tomorrow i get my first ultrasound (plus nuchal scan & first run of blood work).

it is funny...my m/s has subsided this past week & i feel really anxious to see the bean (heart beat etc.)

* my weekend was insane. my son's soccer team made it to indoor provincials and he played 4 games this weekend plus he had a rock band performance yesterday afternoon.

i just submitted my last paper of grad school (literally 20 mins ago),and i am going to treat myself to a chill afternoon.

[nettlesoup]

I think all my plans for tomorrow may not be happening. We're meant to be getting up to 25cm of snow which means I'm unlikely to get to my midwife appointment or home ed group. And my sister might not manage to get here for dinner. It's very annoying because I intentionally made tomorrow a busy day because my fiance is going to be away in Newcastle for three days.

I bet some of you will be wondering what the problem is with a mere 25 cm, but over here the first sign of a snowflake results in a standstill!

[katalopolis]

Thanks for your kind words everybody. When I said "no thanks" to the original place on the phone I realized that it wasn't even a decision at this point and I'd become very sure of what I wanted to do. Since I am rarely this decisive I am quite pleased with myself.

dakipode: I'm so impressed if that's the first thing you've ever sewn! I can't sew myself so I have no real idea how hard that was to put together but it looks fancy!

[thefreckledmama]

Katalopolis- I 100% understand where you're coming from. I had found a new OB who is very supportive of natural birth. She does waterbirths at the local hospital, and she paid for all the nurses to have doula training. Then I found out the new local birth center was open for care and a home birth, because they accept insurance and I got excited because that made it doable for us.

Then I come to find out my insurance only covers birth at the center-and if I tried to do a home birth they wouldn't cover anything for me or the baby.

The idea of packing up and making arrangements for me, my four older kids, and the inevitable entourage that would be involved with going to the birth center and then heading back home after a few hours seemed waaaaay too daunting when I had the time to think about it.

Although we discussed it at length and exhaustively, it was an easy decision to switch back to the OB-I just had a hard time letting it sink in that I was actually choosing a hospital birth with OB over a birth center birth with a midwife; but I have absolutely no doubts about my decision. It was the right one for me.

Dakipode-if you weren't adamant that was your very first sewing project, I wouldn't have ever thought that. I like that diaper design. I've never seen one like it before, but having diapered 2 in cloth-it seems like a really great design.

Nettlesoup-I can totally believe 25cm would cause things to shut down. Even where I live in the Midwest where winter storms are the norm, people freak out whenever we have the smallest dusting of snow like they've never seen it before.

AFM-I have a gender scan scheduled for Monday. I'm excited-but it's really more for everyone else to know as I'm excited either way. But it also allows me to purge all of one kind of baby clothes, so I'm excited for that too. His mom is coming along, and my mom likely will if she's not working.

My kids are on break this week so we're doing a "staycation" and hitting some area attractions each day. The weather is much colder than it was forecasted to be, so were inside more than I'd like by its still a fun week.

[LivingSky]

katalopolis - Glad you're so confident in your decision! And to add a bit to it for you - my SIL delivered her first child at BC Women's in 2010 and loved it. She had some pretty serious complications (nothing to do with where she was) and they took fantastic care of her and my nephew. She will be having their second child there in about a month from now Vancouver is my hometown and if I were ever back there to give birth I would go with BC Women's without any hesitation!

[katalopolis]

Originally Posted by LivingSky 

katalopolis - Glad you're so confident in your decision! And to add a bit to it for you - my SIL delivered her first child at BC Women's in 2010 and loved it. She had some pretty serious complications (nothing to do with where she was) and they took fantastic care of her and my nephew. She will be having their second child there in about a month from now Vancouver is my hometown and if I were ever back there to give birth I would go with BC Women's without any hesitation!

That's wonderful to hear! Thanks. :)

[tillymonster]

Man I never keep up with the weekly chat threads! Need to be better about that-- I like reading about what's going on with you ladies. Sounds like some very productive days-- mine are still exhausting and I'm worried this 1st trimester sickness is going to continue for a bit. We are in the midst of some crazy stuff-- whether or not we will even live in this state next month, applying for assistance which is always depressing and lengthy. My DH told me we are going to really struggle to pay for the doula I desperately want and need. It's all up in the air. I just pray DH gets work soon because a big out of state move doesn't seem feasible right now as sick and exhausted as I am.

[Serafina33]

Originally Posted by dakipode 

nettlesoup, I watched the videos titled "How to use your basic sewing machine" parts 1 through 5. They're posted by a guy named Rob Olmsted and the name of the lady in the video is Pam. She goes over and identifies all the parts of the machine so you know what she's talking about later. It's so easy and step by step. Between that and reading the little booklet that came with the machine I figured it out. Seriously, this is the first thing I've ever sewn!

Thank you so much!  I'm just about to start to try to sew diapers, haven't bought a machine yet.  I wish I knew which models were best for sewing dummies like me who have never sewn anything in their lives.  I hope that video is good (it's on youtube right?).

Ok, can I just vent that I am so sick of cleaning and laundry?  My kids brought home pinworms and we all had to take the meds and thanks to the power of suggestions I feel a twinge down there every few hours during the day and I'm sure it's a worm, but I can't find any.  I'm still paranoid I have them since they're so contagious and I am washing every. last. linen. or. clothing. item. in. our. home. every. single. day. and I am going insane.  I've got the heebie jeebies so bad from this I'm in a constant near state of panic.

Since 30-80% of kids at any one time have pinworms, are there any other lovely September mamas here who are dealing with this via their lovely current, running-around-kiddos, currently?

I swear, this and lice has to be so far the most icky and stubborn/PITA things (although, granted, not serious and I realize i'm blessed to have never had a serious health problem in our family) about having kids in the first place.